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Bettie Locke Hamilton, Alice Allen Brant, Bettie Tipton Lindsey and Hannah Fitch Shaw sought to create an organization for women that would provide the encouragement and support that would draw women to coeducational colleges and help them attain a degree. It was with these ideals in mind that the four women founded Kappa Alpha Theta, and believed in the fraternity's strength through its members' lasting loyalty to each other and to the Fraternity ideals. |
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Bettie Locke Hamilton |
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Alice Allen Bryant |
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Bettie Tipton Lindsay |
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Hannah Fitch Shaw |
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Kappa Alpha Theta is the first Greek-letter organization for women, based in part on two Fraternities with which Bettie Locke had contact; her father's, Beta Theta Pi, and Phi Gamma Delta, of which her brother and her boyfriend were both members. Bettie had many friends in Fiji, and when one asked her to wear his badge as a token of friendship, Bettie declined; she said that because she did not know the secrets and purposes represented by his letters, she could not wear them. This respect has been intigrated into the current practices of Kappa Alpha Theta--only initiated members of the Fraternity, who know the true meaning of Theta's letters, may wear them.
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Badge |
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Coat of Arms |
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Soon after its founding in January of1870 at Depauw, Bettie Locke Hamilton installed the Beta Chapter at Indiana University in May of that year. Through the years, Kappa Alpha Theta has grown to its current size of 125 college chapters, 282 alumnae groups, and more than 150,000 |
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Pansy |
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Headquarters |
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Symbol is the Kite |
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